Praise You
Time seemed to stand still, dust drifting in the dim corridor light. Only when the door opened did the frozen time begin to flow again.
Yan Chen walked out of the house, with bruises on his brow bones, scars on the corners of his lips, dark circles under his eyes, and frowning eyebrows, like a Bodhisattva stained with blood, who had mistakenly fallen into the mortal world.
Without raising his eyebrow, he took her hand and turned to leave.
Zou Meng had been waiting outside. Seeing the two men approaching quickly, she went to meet them, but was startled by the look on Dian Yan's face. "Are you... okay?"
Chen Yan'an kept walking, carrying Ye Yuanyin past her.
That night, family doctor Yue Zeng was invited to the villa in North City.
Aunt Yang observed Ye Yuanyin's expression and asked tentatively, "What's going on? He's such a steady person, why would he fight with someone?"
She remained silent.
After waiting for a while, Yue Zeng came out of the study. Aunt Yang hurried over to him and asked, "What's going on?"
"It's okay, just superficial injuries." Yue Zeng fixed his indirect gaze on Ye Yuanyin and tilted his head, saying, "That person asked you to come in."
Ye Yuanyin asked cautiously, "Is he angry?"
Yue Zeng smiled, "As long as you go in, he won't be angry anymore."
She took a deep breath and said, "I understand."
The mahogany door of the study was thick and heavy. Because of its age, it made a "creaking" sound when pushed. Ye Yuanyin took some effort, and as the door hinge turned, she looked up and saw the man who had been standing there for a long time. She was surprised at first.
Sediment's face was cold, and because of the scars on his face, his features were deeply shadowed. He didn't speak, and his eyes fell on her like an icy blanket, covering her body, cold and heavy.
"Does the wound still hurt?" She raised her hand, wanting to touch his face.
But Chen Di'an turned his head away and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Ye Yuanyin was stunned by his coldness, "I-I came to see you."
"Why did you come to see me? Are you concerned about me?"
Uncertain about his attitude, she didn't know how to respond. Without waiting for the answer she wanted, Chen Di'an's voice became even colder than before, "Anything else?"
The expression on her face was a little awkward, and she spoke hesitantly, "No, it's okay. Well, go ahead and do your work. I won't bother you anymore."
After she finished speaking, she turned and left. Suddenly, Chen Dian grabbed her arm, bent down and picked her up.
Ye Yuanyin screamed in surprise.
The next second, she was placed on the desk. As soon as she sat up straight, he leaned over, his hands on her sides, his eyes locked with hers as if icy. She couldn't stand such aggressive gestures and gazes, so she lowered her voice and asked, "What's wrong with you? You're not like yourself anymore."
"What do I look like to you?"
Gentleman, gentle and polite.
As if he could see through her thoughts, Chen Yan sneered and asked again, "Do I look too lyrical in your eyes?"
He suddenly placed one hand on her thigh, and his palm slowly moved along the smooth line of her skirt between her legs. Ye Yuanyin's face flushed red, and she grabbed his arm tightly with both hands. Their eyes were glued together, and an unstoppable exclamation mark appeared between their bodies.
She thought, "How could a man in such a high position, who had gone from the sidelines to the center of the storm of power succession, be gentle and polite?" She was just being too wishful.
His lips moved to her neck again, and under his heavy kisses, she felt an uncomfortable soreness in her body. She pushed his chest and said, "Don't do this."
Shen Yanan stopped moving, his face lowered, his burning skin rubbing against her neck. He said dissatisfiedly, "Why did you go to see Shen Yuheng and let me find out from others?"
Ye Yuanyin froze for a moment, then whispered, "Who told you?" She recalled the momentary discomfort she'd felt when she saw Zou Meng after leaving the house, and wondered if he wasn't like that? He'd accepted someone else's invitation without her permission, forcing her to learn of his whereabouts from someone else as well. "Aren't you dating Zou Meng too?"
Sediment smiled cruelly: "Is this important? I asked you first."
"Of course it's important. When you asked me to do something, could you please take care of yourself first?" Ye Yuanyin gritted his teeth and took a long time to calm down his anger. "Why did you want to meet with Zou Meng?"
"She said she wanted to take me to the theatre."
Was Zou Meng's idea of treating him to an Italian opera not an Italian opera, but the tangled dramas she'd imagined? When she realized this, she felt even more grief-stricken and angry. "What do you want me to tell you? How can I tell you how terrible your family is?"
She was finally willing to reveal the wounds buried deep within her heart to him, and Yan Jing felt both relieved and sad. "So, even though you knew there was danger, you still chose not to tell me. In your heart, I'm not trustworthy, right?"
She made no excuses.
Shen Yan looked at her and smiled dejectedly, "Beautiful clothes, shoes, and jewelry can't buy you, and you don't care about Mrs. Shen's identity. If one day you don't like me anymore, will you leave me again like the last two times?"
Six years into her life in Ancheng, she'd grown accustomed to her own bleakness. The poor and vulnerable, naturally lacking a voice, were constantly ignored. If you didn't care, you wouldn't be sad; if you didn't invest your feelings, you wouldn't be hurt.
It doesn't matter if the person you like doesn't respond, as long as you like them. It's useless to reject the person you don't like, just stay away from them.
She eats alone, works alone, lives alone, and isolates herself in her own emotional whirlpool, and then learns to reconcile with herself the next day.
Day after day, Ye Yuanyin had grown accustomed to gritting her teeth and facing every obstacle before her. When her strength wasn't enough to contend with the overwhelming force before her, her only option was to avoid it—avoiding it meant she wouldn't be hurt, even if the problem was still clearly there. But at the moment, this was the only solution she could think of, and it was the best way to protect herself.
"I'm sorry." Ye Yuanyin confessed calmly, "Because I have so little, I can only carefully guard my fragile spirit and heart. If I have hurt you because of my character flaws, please forgive me. This was not my intention."
A huge wave of bitterness washed over him, and Shen Dian'an finally put an end to his willful exploitation of his potential. The deleted video, the lost bracelet, the lingering ghost of Shen Yuheng... She was clearly the victim, but this was the only way he could force her to be more honest with him.
Soft hair brushed against her cheek. Chen Yan raised his head, staring at her in confusion, and said helplessly, "This kind of love that can be stopped at any time can't satisfy me. Which path to your heart is the one that will never separate us? Tell me. As long as you are willing to say it, I will do it no matter what. I want to become closer to you."
Ye Yuanyin caught the love he wanted to convey to her under his strong emotions. Her hands were too small to hold his palm, so she could only grab his fingers and shake them gently, assuring him: "I will change. I have a strong learning ability. Don't be angry anymore."
It was as if rain had fallen in Chen Yan'an's heart. The soft and persevering water drops fell, and the dry land was finally nourished. He glanced at her with a cold face and said, "Hug me first."
Ye Yuanyin came over and hugged his thin waist.
Shen Yan pouted, feeling the warm body temperature in his arms, and was soon coaxed into submission.
*
Because of Chu Jinxi's appearance that night, the paparazzi who were filming the scene hadn't expected such a big harvest. Not only did they capture the second and third generation heirs of the Shen family engaging in a fierce duel, but they also composed a captivating short essay based on their own imagination.
The next day, Shen Wentian was completely furious when he saw a fancy-named gossip video on his phone about the Shen uncle and nephew fighting over the same female star.
At that time, Shen Yuheng and Shen Ji'an were both invited back to the old house. Shen Wentian wanted to throw the phone in their faces, "Assholes, every one of you is an asshole! Are you really going to squander all the family fortune I earned?!"
Zhang Yunrong calmly advised him, "The media always exaggerates to attract traffic. You're so old, why are you still so childish?"
"How could our Shen Group raise the value of a stinking bitch? Does she deserve it?!" Shen Wentian's frail body was shaking with anger. "Two men are fighting for a woman. Even a girl from a decent family has to consider the impact, let alone a famous porn star! I've been seduced by so many women in my life, and I've managed to earn a clean reputation. Who would have thought that before I die, I would bring shame to these two prodigal sons!"
Shen Yuheng snorted disdainfully and said, "Old man, why do you believe everything you hear? Ask Shen Di'an if I fought him because of Chu Jinxi?"
Chen Yan'an's expression was one of forbearance, all his anger suppressed inside. He said to the two elders in the family: "I want to get married."
Shen Wentian slowly turned his head and asked in surprise: "With whom? The daughter of the Zou family?"
"Ye Yuanyin."
"You're so promising!" Shen Wentian was so angry that he almost overturned the tea set on the table. "We finally got a divorce. Don't you think about it? Do you have the final say in your marriage now?"
Chen Yan said calmly, "I just came to inform you."
"What do you mean?" Grandpa sat down on the table, his fingers digging into the corners. His eyes bulged outward, the whites of his eyes cloudy. "Are you implying that my opinions and Grandma's are unimportant?"
"I'm dispensable to this family. If you don't need me, you can just give up on me." Chen Yan'an calmed down and said calmly, "There's no room for negotiation on this matter of marriage. And grandma, just deleting the videos at home means we can pretend this never happened?"
Shen Yan pointed at Shen Yuheng and said disrespectfully, "Do you think I don't know what dirty things he's done? For my father's sake, we consider ourselves unlucky. But don't go too far! From now on, we won't interfere with each other. If anyone dares to offend Xiao Ye again, don't blame me for offending everyone in this family."
Zhang Yunrong suddenly stood up from her chair and slapped him in the face. "What do you know that you dare to talk nonsense here?"
"What else do I need to know? Do I need to know that my biological father is not Shen Huafeng, but someone else?" Shen Yan'an looked over with a burning gaze. He looked at the woman in front of him who divorced her ex-husband and supported her current husband to build the Shen Empire. He gritted his teeth and asked again: "Do I need to say more? It's really disgusting!"
Zhang Yunrong's face suddenly turned pale, and she stammered, "How could you—how could you—"
"Grandma, are you worthy of my father? You are so partial to him that he will never be able to rest in peace."
With Yandi'an gone, for some, living like Xiaoye is already exhausting their energy. But for others, living like me is full of surprises and emptiness.
You can't always have it all in life.
When Ye Yuanyin came out of the villa halfway up the mountain, he happened to send him a message.
Zhou You organized a reunion for our class and asked me to attend.
She kept her word and finally agreed to let him participate more closely in her life. He was indeed a quick learner. A smile finally broke through the corners of Chen Yan's tense mouth as he replied.
Are you going to Huanghua?
[Go ahead, Zhao Tongming should go too.]
[Then you can go too. Send me the address.]
She obediently gave an address. Dian Chen put away the smile on his face and asked Secretary Ma: "What has You Jing been busy with recently? Has he contacted You Manshan?"
"I haven't contacted You Manshan, but I've been in touch with Ji Quan quite a lot."
"...What did he want to do?" A shadow fell on Shen Ji'an's face, which was covered with a bandage. He asked again: "Have the police's autopsy results come out on Xiao Ruan's death? Are they sure it was suicide?"
“Not yet.”
Chen Yanan forwarded the address sent by Ye Yuanyin to Secretary Ma, "Xiao Ma, go check this place out."
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